Christmas Eve Activities

Aside from the things that you usually do and have been suggested (all ideas I would suggest too), what about a good Christmas movie - something to remind everyone of what the season is about or maybe something funny to keep their interest (whatever you think is best)? This is an especially good backup plan in case the weather is bad and they can't play outside. Some good Christmas titles are:

- Short animated ones like: A Charlie Brown Christmas / Rudolph / Frosty the Snowman / etc.
- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
- A Christmas Story
- Home Alone
- A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
- Nightmare before Christmas (could also be a Halloween movie)
- Grinch (either animated or the Jim Carey version)
- Santa Claus
- The Santa Clause
- The Nativity Story
- Holiday Inn
- White Christmas
- It's a Wonderful Life

Someone previously mentioned Bingo. I found on www.currentcatalog.com a $5 Christmas Bingo game. My sister also has a Christmas trivia game my kids love playing on CHristmas Eve.

P.S. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one around already thinking Christmas. Most of my friends tease me about starting so early. I absolutely love to plan and get ready for Christmas! We usually even have out tree up before THanksgiving!

Play Bingo and have prizes to win (candy, stickers, $5 gift cards to sonic,etc) The winner could also pick someone's prize or get a new one- you could make christmas themed bingo cards or just use regular ones.

We used to pile in the car and go to the "ritzy" neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights. In our hometown, we could tune the radio to some certain channel that played Christmas songs only, so we'd listen to that and sing along between "oohs" and "ahs." Of course, with the price of gas these days ....!! Merry Christmas, whatever you decide to do!!

Hi K.,
There are some wonderful arts-n-crafts from places like Oriental Trading Company. We did several of the arts-n-crafts last year with the children in my family and it was a hit. My favorite was a Christmas Tree craft where the children wrote (or we wrote it for them) on the ornaments, all the things they were thankful for. There is also one where they make a reindeer out of their hand shape. Very cute and personal.
You could also have everyone bring pictures from the previous 12 months and make a scrapbook.
R. B.

Hobby Lobby had a TON of Christmas Crafts Kits that will keep them busy.

Every Christmas Eve my children and I make sugar cookies. Everyone helps mix the ingredients and then the oldest rolls out the dough. We all pick our own cookie cutters and and then I bake them off. Once they're cool enough we have a blast decorating them. It's so funny to hear them comparing what design techniques they're each using. While the cookies are cooling I pull out some Christmas stationary along with crayons and markers and each of the kids makes a thank you note to leave for Santa. This activity works for kids of all ages. I have a now 12 month old, a 2 yr old, 4 1/2 yr old and an 8 1/2 yr old; and this is something we've done forever and will continue to do until I have my grandkids and someday great grandkids making Christmas cookies.

Talk to all of your husband's siblings or their wives, get pictures and make a scrapbook or get one of those frames with like 20 pics, or a frame and make a collage for grandma.

The foam art stuff is great because many of the things are self-adhesive, not a glitter mess, maybe just some glue, adn the older kids can help with the younger ones. Ornaments is also a good activity. Wal-Mart has kits that are easy for kids to make.

Look at the game section of Target and Wal-Mart. We had a great time playing a Spanish bingo game I found one year.

The suggestion about the sugar cookies is also a good one. We make a cake that my grandmother taught me, and I am now the only one that knows how to do it. We make between a half to a dozen and give them to people for xmas presents. With the older cousins, they can supervise while the grown-ups take a load off.

Get the men, or everybody, outside with them playing volleyball, badminton, horse shoes. Bubbles for the smaller ones. I took bubbles to my son's birthday party at the skateboard park (9) and two of the kids wound up doing that more than they rode the boards.

Maybe they could work together on a project...like making a book. All the kids can make one page. They can work together to come up with the story-line and theme, then each kid can write his own page of the book, or just draw pictures. Then, you can read the completed book to all the family/guests before you tell Christmas stories and carols.

Why not make a double batch of cookies or other treats and have the kids package them and deliver them to the neighbors? We used to get vendor gifts of a case of grapefruit or oranges and other holiday stuff. I also used to make homemade jelly and jam and pickles that I would make into little gift basket and have the kids take to our neighbors. They were older folks whose kids were long gone and they really appreciated it. One year a bag of grapefruit made all the difference in the world to a neighbor who was going through chemotherapy for cancer. She didn't have much appetite, but that fruit was the best thing she'd seen in weeks.

How about a game of soccer in the backyard or a nearby park? If you're a tamale-making kind of family, I'd bet that you're a soccer-playing kind of family, too. Sounds like you've got enough kids and probably adults to field two decent sized teams.

You can get little plaster-cast ornaments at craft stores for less than a dollar and some paints and the kids can make ornaments to give to the neighbors as well. Have an adult write the family name and year on the back in permanent marker so that it becomes a true memento. "From the Ramirez family to yours, Christmas 2008" (or whatever your family name is).

How about visiting a hospital or nursing home and caroling or taking small gifts? Check with the facility beforehand to make sure the timing is right and for suggestions on gifts especially of food since many folks may be on restricted diets.

I know that tamales are a big, big celebratory family event in the Hispanic community. Could you make extra tamales to share with neighbors or folks who might be shut-ins and be missing out on the tradition